Trollbunden
by Adelheidi
Summary: Spellbound: Matthias and people from his town are forced to make a choice, to stand up against their king or perish under his harsh rule. Their rebellion seems to be doomed in the beginning, until Matthias meets someone that has insight that can give them victory. But is he willing to risk all of their lives based on information from a stranger reluctant to reveal his identity?
1. Awakening

**Awakening**

The days of summer were growing shorter as autumn and winter was making a slow approach to the kingdom of Feawen. The sun set earlier in the evening with each passing day, but after a good summer the fields all around the kingdom were just about ready for harvesting. The farmers, their families and their hired help were preparing for the weeks of hard work that it would be to collect the crops collected and indoors before the frost would claim them instead.

Matthias was the name of a young man living just outside the small town of Griven on the far edge of the kingdom. He had lived with his mother on a small farm ever since his father had died when he was just a few winters of age. The man had fought in the king's army during the last wars between the kingdoms 15 years ago and he had been killed in the last battle that had given them victory over the neighboring kingdom.

This year was his first one completely alone. His mother had passed away the previous winter and so he knew better than many of the others how important it was to get the harvest done in time. The last winter had come faster than anyone could have predicted and most of the farmers had been unprepared, so the frost had claimed a large portion of that year's crops.

Matthias had done his best to provide food for both himself and his mother by spending the winter months hunting, but he had very little luck in doing so. Most of the animals had left their normal grounds in favor of places where they could find more food. His mother feared they didn't have enough food to last them both through the cold season, so when she fell ill in the coldest of winter, she took her own life in the middle of the night when nobody could stop her, hoping that with one person less to feed, her son would make it until summer.

Then spring came, and Matthias was still alive.

The entire village and most parts of the kingdom had suffered during the last winter. They had done the best they could to help each other, but mainly people had it difficult enough feeding their own families and so many had perished in the cold and darkness.

The only place in the kingdom that had not suffered was the capitol. The winter didn't seem to have hit them as hard as everywhere else and they had more than enough food for the citizens. People from the smaller villages had traveled to the capitol in hope of buying supplies, but they could barely afford to buy enough to help them the slightest.

Every trader in the big city was strictly under control by the king and he was in charge of the prices for every shopkeeper around. The farmers around the capitol gave a large portion of their crops to feed the kings army and the rest of their crops were sold for far higher prices than in the rest of the kingdom. The other traders that did not deal in food paid high taxes to the king to pay the soldier's salaries, but they still earned far more than anyone outside of the capitol could ever dream of.

It was a bad system and everybody knew it. The king was fully aware that with a winter as bad as the last one had been, people were forced to pay the traders in the city whatever prizes was demanded if they wanted to survive the winter. The rich became richer and the poor became poorer and the king couldn't care less, as long as army were fed and supplied.

The king was desperate to keep his army functioning. The kingdom had kept the peace for 15 years now after the last big war. But two years past, rumors had started to spread throughout the kingdom that their neighboring kingdom was building an army again and the king immediately started taking precautions. Over the course of only a year he had doubled the size of his army and that caused the taxes to rise significantly. A majority of the villagers in the smaller towns on the farther edges of Feawen had already been poor before the taxes were raised and then the winter took their crops, leaving them worse off than ever.

The king had no concern for his people. He only cared about being able to fight of his neighboring kingdoms should they ever start a war against him ever again.

* * *

It was the day for one the final large markets before the first snow would fall. Matthias only owned a small patch of land that had barely been large enough to provide him and his mother with enough food for the winters in the past. He was living alone now, but with the king preparing for a war that might not ever come, he knew would be forced to give some of his harvest to the crown and would probably have another winter where food would be scarce.

So now Matthias was on his way to the marketplace with a bundle of pelts he had acquired over summer by hunting, hoping they would sell. He could certainly need the extra income they would provide, especially with the latest increase in taxes.

But approaching the town square, thing didn't seem to be as they should. Matthias could hear loud shouting somewhere in the distance, and it was not the shopkeepers yelling out their prices in order to attract customers. Some of the voices were demanding, while others sounded more panicked and desperate.

He figured it could not be a good sign at all, so in order to stay clear of trouble he chose to avoid the main road into town and follow some of the smaller streets that zigzagged between the houses towards the market where it was less likely for anybody to see him and he could maybe find out who or what was causing the ruckus in the square.

Reaching the line of houses closest to the square, Matthias pressed his back against one of the walls and edged close enough to take a peek around the corner. He got a clear view of the marked square, or what was supposed to have been one at an earlier state. Now however it was a disaster area. Several of the stands had forcefully been knocked over so that food and other gods were now spread all over the ground.

The streets were crawling with men wearing light suits of armor that were decorated with the royal seal. The kings own men were obviously the cause behind the chaos and there had to be between 30 or 40 of them. Matthias could notice several of them shouting at one of the traders when the man failed to give them what they wanted; one of them grabbed a hold of the man's coat and threw him to the ground. Just moment after the others joined in and they started kicking him repeatedly, even when he begged for mercy.

Matthias had to bite down on his lip in order to not cry out in protest when nobody else showed any signs of stopping the soldiers.

His heart almost stopped when he heard his own name sharply being called. In alarm he threw his back against the wall once more to make certain that he was out of view. But relief washed over him when he noticed who had called his name. It was a wrinkled old man who was urgently signaling for him to step inside.

The old man was no stranger to Matthias. His name was Sigurd and he was one of the most respected men in the entire village having lived and gathered experience for many years of life. He was known to many for his kindness and when Matthias had lost his own father as a child, Sigurd had made sure that he and his mother had everything they needed in order to get by.

* * *

"What is going on?" Matthias asked in a cautious whisper when he as quietly as possibly shut the door to the alleyway behind him, worried that anyone outside could hear them.

Sigurd stepped over to a window that had a view out to the town square and pulled aside the curtains and waived Matthias over so they could both look out. "I assume you notice how that were the kings men out there" Sigurd muttered darkly as a frown made its way to his face.

Matthias swallowed nervously as he gazed out the window and watched in horror as the guards had moved on from tipping over stands to breaking down doors just a few houses down from Sigurd's home. "But what do they want?" he asked nervously.

"We have all heard about the rumors of war and how the king has ordered us all to pay higher taxes." Sigurd said angrily and then tugged the curtains shut just in front of Matthias so they would not have to watch their town be torn to pieces by guards that were supposed to protect them. "Apparently the king doesn't seem to think that is enough and now he has sent his soldiers around his own kingdom to acquire the necessary resources, be that food or weapons and he do not care how they attain it."

They were interrupted by heavy footsteps just on the porch in front of the house, followed by an insistent knocking. Matthias tensed in his chair, but Sigurd only cursed quietly under his breath, but seemed otherwise unfazed as if nothing could bother him anymore. "They are going house to house" he whispered. "You better get out of here boy, get out the backdoor and run back to your farm. You better pray that they will get everything they want from the village and won't bother with the houses further out."

"But what about you?" Matthias protested weakly as the old man pulled him up from his seat and pushed him towards the back door. The knocking on the front door got more insistent and they could hear the loud command from a soldier that they should open the door immediately.

"I will be fine" Sigurd gave him a reassuring, but weak smile. "Just get out of here."

Matthias opened the door and shut it behind himself. What he had not expected was to be met by three soldiers standing around him in a half circle and pointing swords at him. From the other side of the door he could hear a loud crash as the front door was broken down and the raised voices that followed. He recognized Sigurd's yell in protest and guessed the other angry voices belonged to the soldiers.

"Well, well, well" the soldier in front of Matthias said mockingly as he stepped forward and raised his sword to let the sharp edge rest at Matthias' throat so it threatened to bit through his skin at any moment. "Trying to escape are we? Well I think not, you are coming with us boy."

"What are you talking about?" Matthias tried to ask, but the soldier ignored him completely. The two others sheathed their swords and stepped up to each grab a hold of one of Matthias' arms so they could haul him out of the alley and out to the market square. As he was being pulled along the road he could see that Sigurd was being pulled out of his house by the soldiers. He had a line of blood running down his face from a cut on his forehead. When Sigurd noticed him, he could see the sorrow in his eyes.

The soldiers pulled Sigurd out in the middle of the square where it was a small height that stood just a little higher than the rest of the flattened area that was the market square. It was an excellent place for making announcements. And it seemed that was just what the soldiers seemed to have in mind for now as they pulled the two men towards the small height and in view of everybody who were present.

"Gather around everyone!" one of the soldiers commanded. His suit of armor was different from everybody else's. The symbols were much more detailed and the cloak around his shoulders was made of a finer fabric than the rest of his men had, pointing him out as their leader.

Most of the crowd looked like they would rather be anywhere but at de marketplace place and Matthias could not blame them as he was sharing their wishes. The soldiers were blocking off every exit, making it impossible for anyone to sneak their way out without having a soldier ready to force them back. Matthias could read their faces as he was being dragged closer to the height by the soldiers and was placed beside Sigurd. The two of them had nowhere to escape, so the soldiers let go of them.

Most of them people were terrified. Several of the women were keeping their faces down, avoiding looking up at the commander. Some of the men were angry and Matthias could see how they were angrily gritting their teeth and clenching fists by their sides. But they all remained silent, for they knew that there was nothing they could do.

"I am very disappointed in you" The commander shouted. "Just now we caught this old man trying to escape our men through a back door when we knocked on his door to kindly ask for our share." The commander stepped down to grab a hold of Sigurd and pull him up on the small height to make a point. "We come to this village on by the king's order to gather supplies for the army so that we can protect the entire kingdom of Feawen from danger. And then you treat us with hostility, refuse to give us what we need."

"That is a lie!" Sigurd yelled out. "You are taking everything we have. If you keep taking all our food, none of us will survive the winter. And you say you are defending and protecting the people of this kingdom when in reality you are killing us."

Only a few people in the crowd dared to cheer at the comment. The soldiers yelled angry commands at them to shut up. One of the soldiers stepped up to the old man to grab his arms and restrain him.

The commander angrily withdrew a long sword from the sheath resting by his hip and aimed it threateningly at Sigurd. The crowd started yelling out protests, begging for them to spare the old man.

"Defying us is the same as defying the king" the commander snarled. "That is a crime punishable by death." He then lifted his sword above his shoulder ready to strike.

* * *

That was when Matthias was unable to hold back any longer. "No!" he screamed in panic at the top of his lungs and everybody turned their attention to him instead. The soldiers that were supposed to be guarding him had been focused on the old man and the commander and so the boy was free to make a leap for the commanding officer. There was a branch on the ground and hi picked it up on his way and hit the commander's wrist with it so he cried out in pain and dropped the blade with a clatter.

A sudden silence ensued. If a coin were to be dropped, everyone would have been able to hear it. They were all staring at the young man, still clutching on to the branch that had just been used to attack and disarm one of the king's soldiers.

"You little shit!" The commander hissed furiously. "You are going to regret doing that!"

Matthias suddenly panicked, realizing what he had just done and backed away from the enraged commander, keeping an eye on him the whole time. His mind was desperately working to find a way out of the situation he had managed to get entangled in.

"No, Matthias" Sigurd cried out, his voice coming out chocked as if he was struggling to keep back a flood of emotion. He was struggling against the soldier that was holding on to him, but he did not have the strength to break free of the hold.

The other soldiers were drawing closer and drew their weapons as well. They were completely surrounding the terrified young man to make sure that he had no way of escaping. Their commander signaled for them to stay back and he picked up his own sword from the ground again and angrily glared at the boy.

"Let's give you something to be sad about shall we?" the commander hissed maliciously. "Consider this to be your fault." He once again lifted up his sword and without hesitating this time he drove it though the old man's stomach and Sigurd gasped in surprise and stared down at the blood that was quickly soaking his clothes in red. The commander drew his sword back out and the old man fell over on the ground.

Matthias let out a heartbroken cry let out in sorrow and fury. He was about to leap forward, but the commander aimed the blood dripping sword at him instead as he grinned cruelly.

Matthias lifted the branch he had never let go of ready to strike. It was his only available weapon and here his opponent was aiming at him with sharply honed steel blade and with the skills of a true combatant. And then there were the soldiers just a few steps away with weapons aimed at him to make sure that he did not run off.

All around them people had begun to yell out more loud protests and cries in horror. The soldiers were fighting to keep the crowd back, not being careful at all as they did so. They whacked one man over the head with the butt end of an axe and e keeled over clutching his bleeding forehead.

For Matthias time seemed to slow down and could practically hear his heart beat as if it was trying to fight its way out of his chest. Every sound and impression was getting almost too intense to bear. He would never be able to survive against a skilled swordsman and he was dreading the death that would most likely come to him just in a moment. He let his gaze roam quickly around the market square where the situation was quickly turning even more disastrous than it had been earlier in the day.

He could see a terrified woman holding on to her small child, trying to protect it from the massed around her. Her husband stepped up in front of her to shield her as well. Then there were the men that were trying to get through the groups of soldiers blocking of the escape routes away from the market.

But among all the chaos there was one person that stood out from all the others and he seemed completely calm about the entire affair. It was a young man, stunningly beautiful and standing all by himself a bit away from the rest of the crowd and Matthias could not recognize him as one of the villagers. He was elegantly dressed and light blonde hair was dancing around his face. But what really caught Matthias' attention were his eyes, dark pools of nothing that seemed to look right into his very soul.

Matthias locked gaze with the stranger and the word seemed to stop completely until the young man shifted his gaze. Matthias followed his line of sight in a dreamlike state and was ripped back to reality when he realized the commander right was about to lash out at him. He barely managed to step aside and avoid the blade that instead hit the ground.

He was back in reality where it was a question of life and death. The commander was furious that he had missed the distracted target and Matthias used the opportunity to launch an attack of his own.

He whacked the commander over his back with all his strength and earned a groan in pain from his opponent. But it had not really caused any damage at all. Matthias wished the branch was heavier in his hand, for the soldier was getting angrier by the second having a small village farming boy humiliating him in front of everybody. A few of the other soldiers drew closer, having so long avoided interfering in the fight.

Then Matthias could hear someone in the crown yelling out his name. The voice was gruff and he recognized it to belong to the smith's apprentice in the village, Berwald. A few moments later he could see the man plowing his way through the crowd carrying a sword.

Matthias dodged yet another furious attack from the commander before Berwald got close to the line of soldiers that was trying to push the furious crowd back. "Catch!" Berwald yelled and threw the blade. It landed on the ground a few meters away from Matthias and he scrambled to get a hold of it.

"They are going to attack us!" the commander shouted. His eyes were wild with anger and his hair was glued to his forehead by sweat. "Bring them down! They have to die!"

All of the soldiers now drew their weapons and panic broke out for real. People were screaming and immediately started launched at the soldiers. It was fight or die for them now. The men that had circled in Matthias and the commander were aiming their attention toward the distressed crowd instead so they could help their comrades defeat the desperate crowd.

Matthias hurled the branch at the commander and the man growled in anger. The sword felt wrong in his hands, but it was still better than a mere twig. It was heavier and way more dangerous. There was no time to linger on it, and with a roar he charged at the commander who was still trying to regain his balance and he hit the man dead on in the chest.

Matthias had to fight back his nausea as he heard bone break and the sickening sound of metal cutting its way through skin and muscle. The commander fell over with a chocked gurgle. Matthias was still clutching on to the sword and landing atop him, driving the blade in even further. He was about to hyperventilate. He had killed animals several times, but never had e even thought about harming a human being.

"Matthias" someone in the crowd called out but he didn't know who. "Watch out!"

Matthias ripped the sword back and whirled around on the ground so he ended up on his back on the hard stepped ground. He lifted up the blade just in time to block a slash aimed at his face and kicked at the attacker's feet so the other man tumbled over. Matthias let out another shout in anger as he got up and cut the man's throat with a swing of his sword.

This kill was even messier than the first on had been and Matthias could feel droplets of blood land on his face and he had to fight back another wave of nausea as he observer the red liquid soak up in the dirt.

The little village had turned into a nightmare. He was alone on the height now and he took the time to look at his surroundings even if all the blood through his body made everything seem unclear. The crowd seemed to have taken down almost all of the soldiers by now and he could hear their dying screams as the remaining were being slaughtered. It turns out that a group of well trained soldiers was no match to close to 200 desperate villagers fighting for their lives.

The butcher had been in the crowd and he was wielding a small knife. The village smith had taken a sword from his forgery; the same had his apprentice, Berwald done. There were a few others armed by now, having stolen the weapons from fallen soldiers.

Then Matthias noticed the young man again, the stranger with the dark blue eyes. The man was now staring at him curiously with his head tilted just slightly to the side in wonder and with a playful smile tugging at his lips.

Matthias was about to get up and follow this stranger, wanting to ask him who he was, but then a man came up to him. Matthias instinctually lifted the blade and growled threateningly at the threat.

But the man put his blade down and held his open palms towards the boy. "It's okay Matthias" a calm and powerful voice said. "It's me Torleif. The soldiers are dead now. You can put down the sword."

Matthias was fighting to keep back his tears as he recognized the man, a few of them still escaped and he furiously wiped them away. Torleif was a known figure to everyone in the village. He had fought in the last war and was considered a hero. Torleif reached out a hand and helped Matthias get up and gave him a comforting slap on the back as he whispered. "It is always hard taking another man's life. Trust me, I know."

The entire market square was drenched in blood and dead soldier. Reality seemed to finally hit the villagers as they realized what they had done. Relief for having won was quickly replaced with horror.

"Dear gods" one of the women cried out above the silence that had fallen over them. "What have we done? The king will have us all murdered for this."

"The king was slowly killing us before all this!" Torleif roared back. "Sigurd was right. We can't let the king take all our food in order to fuel a war that might not even be coming anyways."

"But what do you suggest we do now?" one of the villagers asked desperately. "When the king finds out we killed his soldiers he will surely send an entire army in order to punish us and make an example out of us for any other village that threatens to revolt against him."

"We have to fight!" Matthias spoke up with certainty and everyone stared at him. He was still clutching on to the sword that had killed the commander and one of the soldiers. "We have to stand up for ourselves and show this king that he cannot break us down and we have to show the other villagers that if we work together we can bring down the king and stop living in fear of soldiers that are supposed to be keeping us safe and not steal our food."

The villagers stared at him in shock, some in horror. But he could also see a glimpse of determination here and there and soon enough the same determination seemed to spread. Matthias could feel Torleif put a hand on his shoulder and he could practically sense the man grinning widely in confidence.

"To war!" Torleif roared as he held a fist up in the air. "For our freedom!"

"For freedom!" the rest of the villagers cheered back.


	2. Danger

**Danger**

"We have to start planning a strategy immediately!" Torleif had been quick to take control of the situation and gathered a group of men around him on the height where he had earlier held his speech. His time as a soldier in the previous war meant he had experience that made him a natural choice for a leader for them all.

Matthias was still in a bit of a daze after the slaughter that had taken place in the market square, but he was paying close attention to every single word spoken by the rest of the group. Most of the others were older than he was, but Torleif had been careful to include both Matthias and Berwald after they had both shown their worth and will to fight in the battle of the square.

"We probably have a bit of time before the king will find out what have happened here today." The butcher was cleaning blood off one of his knives on a corner of his apron as he spoke. "I think we killed all of the soldiers that came here, so it should take a long time before anyone outside of the village will notice that something is wrong. Even if one of them escaped, it will take him several days to get back to anybody in order to give them a full report".

Torleif nodded thoughtfully in agreement. "But we should be careful anyways. I think we should all stay as close together as we can from now on. Everybody that lives on the smaller farms outside of the village should take up rooms in the tavern tonight, just in case something is to happen." Torleif spoke firmly to show that nothing could convince him to change his mind. "The king is no ordinary man. He has his way of finding out when something happens in his kingdom, and for all we know the soldiers that came here could have belonged to a larger group and just split out to search different villages and then meet up later. We should linger here no longer than we have to."

"If the soldiers that came here was a part of a bigger group, then we have to assume that there are other villages receiving the same treatment as us." Matthias muttered darkly.

"Yes" Torleif replied thoughtfully. "There are probably many other smaller villages like ours that the king is more or less willing to sacrifice to keep his army well supplied. This kingdom is built up by a great number of smaller villages, especially here on the outskirts. All of the cities and larger towns are in relative close proximity to the capitol. And that is the only part of his kingdom the king is willing to risk almost anything in order to protect, even if that means sacrificing a few people in the edges of his land."

"Then it should be our priority to get to the other villages and warn them about the soldiers." Matthias reasoned. "If we really want to defeat the king then we will need every man we can get and the other villages are the only places where we can recruit enough people actually make up a real army."

"You are absolutely right" The butcher said. "But I still think planning can wait for tomorrow. This has been an exhausting day and there are some things that should be taken care of today. Like SIgurd… He deserves a proper funeral."

The butcher pointed towards the body of the old man still on the ground. One of the other men swallowed heavily."We have to get rid of the other bodies as well. They can't just be left out in the open like this. Not only will they start to smell, but if someone is to come here and notice a pile of dead bodies in the streets, they will surely realize that something is wrong and we don't need the attention."

Torleif nodded yet again in agreement. "We can get a cart and dump them somewhere in the forest outside of the village and burn them there. But before we do, we should salvage as much of their armor and weapons as we can. I don't think too many of us have proper equipment for a real battle against trained fighters."

"You can't be serious" one of the other men said in horror and made grimace of disgust. "You want us to take things from the dead? There must surely be something else we can do."

"That is our best option" Matthias was quick to speak up. "Torleif is right. Most of us in the village are farmers. We cannot meet the king's army with hunting bows, knives or scythes and our clothes will not stop an incoming arrow or a blow from any kind of weapon. Unarmed we are no threat to the king, just a mere nuisance he probably wishes to get rid of."

The man still looked disgusted by the thought of having to go through the belongings of a dead man, but he didn't say another word of protest, realizing the others were right.

"There might not be enough weapons for all of us" the butcher said as he inspected his knife to make sure there was no trace of blood left on the blade. "There were only 40 soldiers and if we want to arm more people from other towns, then we will need much more than what they have on them."

They all remained silent for a while in thought until Berwald carefully cleared his throat with a nervous cough. "We have weapons in the forgery" he muttered and everybody stared at the smith's apprentice. "The king put in an order for weapons a while ago in preparation for the war he thinks is coming. If the soldiers had made it to our shop they would have taken with them the case we have prepared for them."

"Well, that would help a great deal" Torleif broke out in a wide smile, eager to get a proper rebellion started. "We have better get to work immediately. There is much that needs to be done before the sun sets. The tavern is the largest building we have, we should make that our base and we will gather all the weapons there. Now let us clear this square."

The other men were about to head in different directions to start clearing the dead bodies out of the way and instruct the rest of the villagers on what had to be done. Torleif went in the direction of Sigurd and pulled of his cloak. He knelt down and draped the heavy cloth over the old man to shield him from the elements for the time being.

Matthias followed after and tapped him on the shoulder. "Torleif…" Matthias spoke nervously. "Do you think I can take care of making a grave for Sigurd? After my mother died, he became the closest thing I have to a family; I wish to do this last thing for him."

Torleif looked up at the young man with sorrow in his eyes and he nodded slowly in understanding. "Of course you can." He said. Torleif got up and put a heavy arm on the younger male's shoulder. "Just know that his death wasn't your fault, no matter what that soldier told you."

* * *

It took Matthias hours to dig the grave all alone. He was offered help from several of the villagers, but every time he insisted that he wanted to be the one to do all of the work. The afternoon sun kept beating down on him as he worked and the dry dirt his digging kicked up, drifted in a cloud around him and clung to his clothes and hair.

He had chosen a patch of open land just outside the village for Sigurd's final resting ground. He didn't want to bury the man anywhere near where the soldiers were being burned. From his place he could see the other villagers lead a wagon by the main road and towards the forest and soon after he could smell the foul stench of the smoke from burning bodies being brought in his direction by the wind. The smoke along with the dry dirt was enough to make his eyes water and his throat soon became dry and sore just from breathing.

Berwald was the first person to approach him when the grave was getting close to being deep enough. By that time the fire had run its course and the smell of smoke had finally started to fade in favor of the fresh smell of autumn air. He didn't say a single word and waited patiently by the side of the grave as Matthias continued to throw up dirt without casting him a single glance in acknowledgement.

When Matthias finally tossed aside the shovel, he offered a hand to help the other get out of the hole. "The rest of the villagers are just about done with all the other preparations in the town square. We all want to say our goodbyes to Sigurd."

Matthias nodded and accepted the extended hand and climbed out of the grave and lay down on the ground with a sigh of exhaustion and stared up at the rapidly darkening sky above him as the day was coming to an end. "I had hoped I wouldn't have to dig another grave for a while after my mother passes" he murmured quietly. "And now I fear that this might just be the first of many more to come."

"There is no stopping that now" Berwald replied back in a calm but serious tone. "At least we have chosen to fight for our lives and not wait around for death to come to us."

"That is true" Matthias said as he stood up and dusted the worst of the dirt of his clothes. From the village they both heard the sounds of several footsteps coming their way.

* * *

The funeral procession was being lead by Torleif who lead a horse pulling a simple wooden wagon behind it. Judging by the number of people that followed, Matthias could only assume they had gathered every single villager, even from all the farms on the outskirts. A sorrowful hymn was being carried on the wind as some of the people sung out their grief for the fallen.

The two young men stepped back when the procession got closer in order to make room for the wagon. On the wooden boards rested the carefully wrapped body of Sigurd, resting on a bed of colorful autumn flowers. The hymned came to an end and silence was yet again wrapping around them, making every single sound anyone made seem several times louder than it truly was.

Four men began the task of picking up the body and gently lowering it into the grave. Their mouths were tightly clenched and their brows furrowed in determination, none of them wanted to let their grief be visible at all. A younger man in the crowd was biting his lips so hard it had started to bleed and a few of the women were trying to hide their sobbing behind a sleeve of their clothing.

The placing of the body in the grave was all done without a single word being spoken. When the four men that had done the work stepped back in the crowd, Torleif took up a place beside the grave and in front of the crowd. He stood for a moment in silence and let his gaze go over the people. He had been chosen as their leader and that meant he had to guide their people, not only through battle, but through the sad moments that would also follow.

"We all knew Sigurd" he started carefully. "He was the man we could always count on to give good advice and a helping hand. Sigurd has always fought for what was right and today he proved that beyond any doubt. He stood up for us all when nobody else had the courage to do so. That cost him his life." He took a moment of silence and let his gaze roam over the gathered villagers again. He then knelt down and picked up a fistful of dirt from the pile beside the grave. He stood back up and held the fist of dirt up in the air for them all to see. "Sigurd was a hero" he croaked, the emotions finally getting to him and breaking his voice. "That is how I will always remember him." Then tossed the dirt down in the grave and stepped back.

Matthias followed in Torleif's example and stepped up to the grave where he picked up a fistful of dirt that he held over the grave. "Sigurd was like a father to me" he stated firmly. "He never turned me away when I needed someone to talk to. I will always be thankful to him for that. Then he opened his hand and let the dirt drizzle down and add another thin layer atop the white fabric wrapped around the body of the old man.

The next one to step up was the tavern owner and to most people's surprise the burly man had tears streaming freely down his cheeks, but still with a brave grin on his face as he picked up some dirt. "This man knew what people needed to move upwards in life." He began. "Some men are just in need good advice. In my case, what I needed and what Sigurd provided was a sturdy boot to my rear end and a sound scolding." A few of the people managed to let out a laugh that was quickly choked by a sob and it lightened the atmosphere around them considerably.

"I used to be nothing but trouble back in the day" the man continued. "But today, thanks to him I have a trade and a business that I can be proud of. I think we should celebrate his life and not only mourn his death. Tonight we will feast in the tavern in his memory and the drinks are on me!" To the sorrowful cheers of the crowd he tossed the dirt in the grave and Torleif stepped up to give the man a bear hug. As he stepped away he received several more slaps on the back from the villagers.

Then the rest of them took a turn to add more dirt to the grave. Some of them that had known Sigurd more said a few words of memory and then they left back to the village, slowly but surely thinning out the crowd. Those who stayed behind were the men that had been more or less chosen as leaders for the rebellion.

When all of the others were on their way back Matthias was about to make a grab for the shoved still stuck in the remaining pile of dirt by the grave so that he could cover up the grave again, but the smith was quicker and snatched it away before his eyes. He shook his head calmly. "I will take care of this, you have done your part" he said. "But if you could help Berwald bring the weapons and the few pieces of armor we keep in the shop to the base at the tavern instead, I would greatly appreciate it. We didn't have time to do that earlier today and we should get that done before this promised feast will take off."

"If I know our beloved tavern owner correctly then the others might have already managed to empty at least one barrel of beer already and there are more to come." Torleif cut in cheerfully. "We'll divide the equipment come tomorrow. Just place them in the back room for now and then we'll see you two at the feast."

Matthias glanced over at the smith's apprentice and Berwald nodded for him to follow. As soon as they turned their backs they could hear the steady sound of dirt being shoveled into the grave.

* * *

The villagers had done a great job to hide all the evidence of what had happened in the market square earlier that day. The bodies had all been removed, and someone had taken a rough broom over the area to hide the blood that had been shed under a layer of sand and dust. But there were still some smashed up pieces from the broken stands and some crushed fruit lying on the ground as a small reminder.

On normal days there would always be smoke rising from the smithy and they would always hear the constant hammering of metals as the smith and his apprentice worked throughout the day. But now it was quiet, and the flames had died hours ago.

Berwald led the way with sure steps and opened the door to the small to let Matthias enter first. Inside it was dark; the small windows on the sides provided little light now that the sun was getting close to set.

There was a large desk by one of the walls where the smith would barter with his customers. The objects on display were mostly common items that a farmer or a builder would need. There were scythes to use in the field, horseshoes, hammers and buckets of nails. There were a few smaller blades for hunting, bows and a load of arrows but nothing that really seemed suitable for a war.

Berwald seemed to notice how Matthias' gaze kept roaming around the room, so he coughed once to get his attention. "The king's order of weapons is in the back. We should get them first and then we can pick up the bows, arrows and knives in here on the way back."

Matthias nodded, but Berwald didn't really take notice, for he had already turned his back and fished out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door to the back room.

"You would have thought that the king had enough weapons by now" Matthias muttered darkly as he followed the other male and caught sight of a case of crude swords. "He has been planning a war for two years and still has the smiths from the smaller villages produce more."

Berwald hummed in response. "We don't really question our orders. We can't really say no to any sort of income the way the economy is, and especially not when it is an order from the king."

Matthias walked over to the case and picked up one of the swords to inspect it further, but he quickly let it drop back in the crate again and it made a soft clang against the others. He still remembered all too well the feeling of a blade in his hands as he had driven it through the commander. "Is this it?" he asked lightly, hoping that the other male had not noticed his discomfort.

"There are a few more" Berwald answered as he went over to a shelf and picked up another sword, much finer forged than the others, the metal shining brightly in what little light made its way in the window. "Here" he muttered and held out the blade towards Matthias. "This is a bit better than the others, do you want it?"

Matthias immediately shook his head and Berwald lifted an eyebrow at him in question. "I don't really want to use a sword. I'll find something else."

Berwald nodded again in understanding and placed the blade with the rest of the others. "I might have something else" he muttered thoughtfully and went over to a cabinet he unlocked with another key.

"Why do you keep whatever it is locked away in an already locked room" Matthias asked. His curiosity got the best of him and he tried looking above the apprentice's shoulder without much luck.

"It was a special order from some officer back in the capitol I think" Berwald replied and moments later he pulled out a large double bladed axe from the cabinet and held it out towards Matthias who was unable to keep his jaw from dropping in amazement as his eyes caught the weapon. With shaking hands he accepted it.

The weight was much greater than that of a sword, but switching it from hand to hand, Matthias knew it was well balanced. The wooden handle was perfectly smooth under his fingers, not the slightest hint of a splinter was to be felt. The metal of the blade itself was dark and smooth wondered if he could split a hair on the sharp edge. In the metal closest to the wood there was a message engraved in old runes. "You can't seriously believe I can have this?" Matthias gasped as he ran a finger along the writing.

Berwald shrugged. "You took down the commander of the soldiers. If you asked me I thing that earned you the first pick of the weapons we have available." He rummaged in a drawer and picked up a shoulders strap made in soft leather. "Here… so you can carry that thing on you back we travel. Now help me with the rest of the weapons."

Matthias couldn't hold back the grin from spreading on his face as he admired the axe one more time. He fastened the axe in the shoulder strap and let it rest on his back and then picked up the box of swords from the floor. "I'll be back in a moment to pick up one more load."

Berwald let out a barely audible sigh at Matthias' sudden change in behavior as he had started to gather up a few pieces of armor to gather in a second crate.

* * *

When the two of them had finally managed to carry and stack all of the weapons in the tavern backroom they could hear the steadily rising sounds from the feast and judging by the cheerful sound of the voices it was clear that the tavern owner had been generous with his supply of alcohol and people were in high spirits already.

When the two of them opened the door to the main part of the tavern, they were met with a rush of noise. The volume they had heard before increased in a tenfold. What was usually the dining room was packed to the rim with people, and there was barely room to move around at all.

The tavern owner noticed them in a matter of moments he had rushed over to them, red faced both from heat in the room and from the alcohol in his system and he handed them both a large mug each of dark brown ale before he disappeared in the crowd again.

"We drink for our freedom" one man suddenly roared out above the crowd in a thick slur as he climbed his way up on a table, spilling ale on everybody around in the process, not that anybody seemed to mind anyway. "We also drink in memory of our fallen friend Sigurd." The rest of the people lifted their glasses and cheered in agreement. "And I will also suggest a toast for our fearless leader, Torleif!" Another cheer and over by the barrel of ale Torleif lifted a newly filled mug in the air and to the encouraging roar of the others he emptied the glass and opened the tap on the barrel to fill his glass yet again.

"And then another toast for his henchman, Matthias, the slayer of the commander!" one of them screamed and drunken laughter followed. Mathias was pushed up on a table by several people and found that everyone was staring at him expectantly. "Drink!" one man yelled. "Drink!" the rest followed. Matthias tipped his head back and emptied the mug in one go. The ale burning slightly at his dry throat and he could feel heat rising to his cheeks.

"Bring more ale for the man!" someone yelled and before Matthias could say or do anything, he could feel another mug being pushed into his hand.

All his worries were soon enough drowned in the pleasant haze of alcohol. Hours passed and then someone, he was not sure who, hauled him upstairs and dumped him on a bed in one of the rooms when he had become so drunk he was unable to stand upright on his own. It only took a few moments before sleep took him when his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Being drunk had blurred his mind as long as he had been awake. Sleep was not that kind to Matthias. The soft bed underneath him was soon morphed into something else. He found himself cold, wet and surrounded by darkness. He was on the ground and could feel roots and dirt underneath his fingers. He got up and took a look around in an attempt to figure out where he was, but it was too dark to make out anything specific at first.

It took him several moments of squinting out in the darkness he could make out the shapes of trees, surrounding him in every direction, so large that it blocked every bit of the sky above him. His eyes got used to the dark and realized he was standing on a patch of freshly turned dirt, a grave most likely. Just in front of him there was a shadow of a man, slowly gaining stronger contours. Matthias felt his breath catch in his throat as he realized it was the commander.

The man was muttering something, but Matthias couldn't catch the words at first, but the man kept on repeating the same line over and over again increasing the volume and stepping closer and closer. "This is your fault"

Matthias stumbled back in horror, for just then the commander started bleeding. Blood ran from his nose at first, then from his mouth every time he opened it to repeat himself one more time. He held out his hands and pointed accusingly at the terrified young man.

Matthias followed the accusing finger and stared down at his own two hands. They were clutching on to a sword and were covered in dark red blood that dripped down on the grave below him. He dropped it as if it was burning hot and it clattered to the ground. The shape of the commander gurgled in blood chocked laughter and then faded away before his eyes.

"Danger"

Matthias spun around at the faint whisper, trying to figure out where the sound came from. "Who's there?" he asked out the thin air, but his voice sounded faint and hollow in the forest.

"Danger"

This time the whispered echoed several times before it died out and it seemed to come from every direction possible. This time Matthias could see a shadow hidden among a cluster of branches, but as soon as he stepped closer to find out who it was, the shadow took off with a rustle of leaves and Matthias had no choice but to follow.

"Stop!" He desperately yelled at the person, but whoever it was kept on running and Matthias chased for dear life, ignoring the branches grasping and clawing at him and tearing up his clothing and rasping up his arms. He ran until his foot caught on a root and he tumbled to the ground and crashed into the trunk of a tree.

Confused and with a massive headache he looked up to see the shadow standing with its back towards him just a few meters away. When the silhouette turned he found a pair of dark blue eyes staring directly at him, but at the same time they were staring right through him.

"It's you?" Matthias whispered in surprise.

"Danger" The person whispered yet again. "You're all in danger, they are coming."


	3. Flight

**Flight**

"Who's in danger?" Matthias managed to choke out. With his head still spinning after the meeting with the trunk of a tree, he was still struggling to make his mind function properly and form decent sentences. "Who are coming? What are you talking about? I don't understand."

The other man seemed to take no notice of his distress and confusion. Instead he continued to stare right ahead, like his attention was focused on something else entirely. It was as if he could hear or sense something that Matthias could not, and his body was taut and alert, like a predator ready for assault.

Tired of waiting for answers he was not likely to receive, Matthias made an attempt to get back up on his feet. But he was barely able to get up in a crouch before his headache multiplied in strength and was accompanied by a wave of nausea he had to lean against the trunk of the tree in order to stay upright. "Who are coming?" he yelled in frustration as he finally managed to stand upright, still clutching on to the tree for support.

The other male finally seemed to take notice of him and Matthias found that he was frozen in position as the man gracefully stepped forward and stopped only when his face was inches away from Matthias' own and he could feel the ghost of breath on his skin.

The mysterious man seemed to be analyzing him at first, tilting his head slightly to the side and letting his gaze stray over for a moment before he stared directly at Matthias' face and gave him the most piercing stare he had ever felt in his life. The power in the young stranger's eyes was enough to make him feel naked and vulnerable and send a shiver down his spine, like the temperature had suddenly dropped several degrees in just an instant and made it freezing.

"They are here…" the soft whisper the other male had spoken in earlier, was morphed into a sharp, angry hiss. "You have to run… Now!"

Matthias was just about to question the order aimed at him, but without warning the other male rushed directly at him. But just before stranger would have impacted with Matthias and probably sent him tumbling to the ground, he disintegrated in a cloud of dark blue mist that swirled around and wrapped around the confused male instead.

Matthias spun around to find out where the mysterious person had gone, but the mist around him grew thicker and darker around him and there was no trace of the other male anywhere. The only thing visible was the threes and they were beginning to sway back and forth, blending with the fog and twisting around each other into bizarre shapes.

Soon enough Matthias started to feel as if the mist and dancing shadows were suffocating and the darkness around him only kept growing heavier, and then it started to twist around him as well and Matthias felt himself falling.

* * *

He landed on the bedroom floor with a thud and in a great tangle of blankets. It turned out that his headache was not just a figment of his imagination and only existent in his dream, but very real and in the company with severe nausea and dizziness that served as a rude reminder that he had drunk far too much ale the previous evening.

Still confused and disoriented with his head spinning, he managed to crawl over the floor to a bucket someone had conveniently placed in his room and hurled. He heaved over and over until his stomach was finally empty and there was nothing left. The vile taste of bile lingered no matter how much he coughed and spat in hope to get rid of it. It was easy to come to the conclusion that ale did not have a very great taste when mixed with stomach acid.

It took a while before the nausea to fade away, but when it lifted Matthias could still not shake the bad feeling that followed his dream and he heard the warning repeated in his head several times. It had been both confusing and disturbing.

He kept wondering why he would see a mysterious person in the market that he knew for sure was not one of the villagers on the same day when the king's soldiers decide to go berserk and rob them for everything they had, for so to dream about the ware same man the following night. Who was this man, and why on earth would his mind be so incredibly obsessed with him?

As soon as his body allowed him to get up from the floor without making his head spin and sending him to the floor again, he padded over to the window. It creaked loudly in complaint as it was pushed open and seconds later a cold breeze supplied the room with some much needed fresh air and made the bare skin on his arms break out in goose bumps when it made contact with the freezing wind.

The bedroom was located on the second floor of the tavern and the window was aimed in direction of the biggest forest around their village. So leaning against the windowsill, Matthias let his gaze roam over the woods and listened to the soft sounds of leaves rustling and the occasional howl from a wild animal somewhere out there. He was happy to be nowhere near it with the nightmare still fresh and vivid in the back of his mind.

The soft sounds of the forest were calming and the shadows from the trees were dancing gently in the pale light from a half moon somewhere behind a thin cover of clouds. Matthias was just about to believe that there was nothing to worry about, but was horrified to see a faint flicker of orange between the branches and his heartbeat immediately picked up in speed.

At first he figured it had to be his still hazed mind playing a cruel trick on him, but the flickering glow refused to disappear no matter how much he blinked and rubbed at his eyes. And then, another one appeared just next to the first one and by the way it was moving closer to the first light, it was obvious that it had to be the flame from a torch and immediately the warnings from his nightmare returned with full force, for the villagers had no reason to wander about in the forest in the middle of the night, so it could not be any of them.

* * *

So when the third light appeared just right next to the other two, there was no longer any doubt in Matthias' mind. There was someone out in the forest who was not supposed to, and he knew he had to warn the others about the impending danger. Immediately survival instincts kicked in and he scrambled towards the bed and reached under it to grab the axe he had placed it the evening before, feeling comforted by the thought of being armed and then headed for the hallways.

The fist door next to his room was opened after a few minutes of insistent knocking and Berwald stepped out. The blacksmith's apprentice looked just about as wrecked as Matthias felt. His eyes were bloodshot from a lack of sleep and the dark circles under them were visible even in the little light available. The total impression was not improved by the shirt hanging askew from having put it on in a hurry.

"What is it?" he demanded angrily.

Matthias showed aside the taller male and forced his way in to the room and over to the window where he pulled aside the curtains and pointed outside. "Look…" he demanded simply and sent an intense stare aimed at Berwald, expecting him to make a closer inspection. "There is somebody in the forest."

"Are you still drunk?" Berward yawned tiredly and rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

Matthias groaned in frustration. He stepped back to the doorway and hauled the slightly taller and at the moment very angry male over to the window, where forced him to look at the orange flickering in the forest. "I am absolutely sure this is not my imagination" Matthias insisted intensely. "I also don't think that it is any one of our people, and I doubt that their intensions are any good for us."

Berwald's face lost almost all of its color and his expression changed from tired and annoyed to dead serious in an instant as he peered out through the curtains and was witness to yet another torch flickering to life. "We have to warn the others" he said urgently and turned back to Matthias. "You run, I'll keep watch for more torches."

Within a few seconds, Matthias was out of the bedroom and was knocking franticly on all of the other doors down the hallway and yelling with a volume that should have been enough to wake dead men to life. "The enemy is upon us!" Get up!"

Soon after the first doors were being torn open and people in different stages of dress and soberness started to stick their heads out of their rooms in order to locate the source of all the noise being created. None of them were looking too happy about having being torn from their warm beds and sweet sleep.

"What are you talking about, boy?" one of them grumbled unenthusiastically. "Did the ale get to your head?" A few of the others chuckled at the remark, but their laughter died out when they realized that the usually cheerful young man showed no signs of amusement at the remark.

"I thought the yelling made it obvious" Matthias said urgently. "We are under attack, and if you value your lives then you better wake up and start moving. There is no time to lose; we have to get away from here right now!"

"He is right" Berwald cut in with a sharp voice, he stepped out of his own room, armed with the large, decorated blade he had offered to Matthias when they went through the supplies in the smithy. "There are several torches out in the forest and there are still more being lit as we speak. From the looks of it, whoever is out there appears to be getting closer. They are not that far from the forest edge nearest to the tavern.

Torleif elbowed his way through the crowd that was now blocking off the entire hallway and made his way over to Matthias and Berwald. "You heard the men!" he yelled loudly over the noise. "Everybody needs to grab as much equipment as they possibly can. Clothes, food and weapons… Anything you can carry with you. There is no time to bother with personal belongings. Run towards the other side of the village, the forest on the other side of the fields will give us cover as we escape north towards the town of Dalahurst. Hopefully we will all be able to meet up there."

"But how could it be the king's army?" one yelled out over the terrified whispering that broke out between them. "It's only been a couple of hours since we killed the other soldiers in the square and it should have been days, not hours before anybody on the outside would be able to investigate and now there is soldiers in the forest ready to attack us. I don't believe it!"

"We'll have to wonder about that later!" Torleif hissed back. "The fact is that they are here right now. If you want to find out how they did it when it should not have been possible, then you are free to stay behind and ask them when they arrive. I have no intention of staying. When I was in the king's army myself last war, I learned not to underestimate the insight of the king and his ability to send soldiers where they are needed."

That shut the man up and the others that had stood speechless and listened now scrambled back in to their rooms to pull on their clothing and grab the few items they had kept there and then make a run for their lives.

Torleif pointed out a few people. "You and you… go and grab as many weapons from the backroom as you can carry and then make a run for Dalahurst." Then he turned towards Berwald and Matthias on put one heavy arm on each of their shoulders. "I will get everyone in the tavern going. You have to warn the rest of the villagers. Tell them to grab whatever they can and warn as many others on their way."

Both of the boys nodded understandingly and Torleif sighed. "The soldiers were probably planning an ambush and wanted to use the element of surprise as an advantage. We should. They might not have noticed yet that we know they are coming and if you are quiet you might sneak around the village for a few more minutes before they realize their plan have failed and launch a full out assault."

* * *

Matthias didn't hesitate a second before he rushed off. People had starter coming back out in the hallway again in their hurry to get away and it was becoming difficult to move anywhere. So he had to push aside several people on his way as he made his way past them and Berwald followed in his trail. He took the stairs four steps at a time and barely made it down without stumbling and falling over panicked people.

Downstairs the rest of the villagers staying in the tavern had started getting up as well and they were desperately trying to figure out what was happening around them. Matthias rushed past them knowing that Torleif would make sure they got out alright and on their way to safety.

When the two young men made to the door the cold late night air hit them like a punch in the face. Matthias breathed heavily after the run and his breath danced around him in a puff of white smoke. Berwald stepped up beside him, panting as well. "We should head of in different directions so we can warn people faster" he breathed.

Matthias nodded and slapped the taller male on the back before he ran off towards the closest cluster of houses, without waiting for Berwald to say anything more. A quick glance towards the forest revealed that the torches were just visible in the very edge of the forest and whoever was behind them would soon be out in the open and have a clear view of the village. He could only pray that they could not notice anyone running through the streets of Griven just yet.

Matthias practically threw himself at the first door and tore at the handle. It turned out to be unlocked, so it gave in under his weight and sent him tumbling inside, to the obvious surprise of the inhabitants.

There was the terrified shriek from an elderly woman sitting up in bed and clutching her blankets to her chest. Her husband was already on his way out of bed, scrambling to get a hold of a weapon so he could defend his family.

Matthias did not make a very good impression, panting madly and clutching on to a great big battleaxe in one hand. He lowered his arms and held them out to the sides to seem a bit less threatening to them. Still gasping for breath he told them the situation and to spread the word.

The couple immediately got on their feet and started grabbing at the most important items they could bring along in the limited time available and stuffed into a small backpack. Matthias did not wait for them to finish and rushed back out and cast another glance towards the forest to get an overview of the enemy's progress and his heart jumped in his chest.

Their attempt at escaping had been discovered.

The men holding torches had come out in the open and were running in a large flock towards the tavern with a vicious cry, demanding blood and death. There were still several people running away from the building. Their desperate cries attracted the attention of the solders. The flickering light from the torches was barely enough to create just the tiniest of reflection in metal helmets, but it was enough to make a conclusion that it was indeed the king's men that had arrived. Robbers and common people did not have the money to carry armor.

Matthias sprinted towards the next house and started tearing at the door handle, much like he had done by the first house. This one was locked, so he hammered at it with his free hand and kicked at it with one boot, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs that they had to run. By now he had no time to worry all that much by the noise.

He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, still while hammering at the door. One of the soldiers had discovered him and changed his direction from the tavern that was now partially engulfed in bright red flames and sending up a large column of black smoke, twisting towards the sky like and angry snake.

Just as the soldier drew closer, the door behind Matthias opened and a terrified woman stepped out, grasping on to a tightly wrapped blanked that was releasing soft sniffs and a lightly dressed male appeared besides her appearing just as horrified. He realized his options were limited now. If any of them ran the soldier would be free to pick who he wanted to pursue, so he clutched harder on to the heavy axe as he stepped protectively in front of the small family.

The soldier slowed down his steps, fully aware that the villagers would not dare to run when he could follow them with ease. The light from the torch he carried revealed a malicious smile and dark gleaming eyes. "You will not let you get away" he chuckled darkly.

"If you get a chance" Matthias whispered to the couple, "then run. I will distract him." Then he stepped forward towards the soldier and lifted the axe.

The soldier's smile widened and became more of a devilish smirk as he hurled the flickering torch up on the roof, where the flames immediately started licking at the soft grass on the sod roof. The woman instinctively curled her body tighter around the precious bundle in her arms to protect it. Her husband drew her closer, desperately looking around in search of an escape for them.

The fire crackled and roared angrily above them as it spread quickly through the straw and made its way to the beams holding the roof up and the smell of smoke started to spread. The soldier lifted a sword he had been carrying in his other hand and started taking swift steps in the direction of the terrified villagers, ready to strike at them.

Matthias leapt forward and blocked the first incoming slash with his axe and there was a vicious clang as metal hit metal. With brute force he pushed the soldier back, away from the house. The crushing of gravel under hurried steps told him that family he had defended sprinted away past his back towards safety.

The soldier broke the stance with a swift step backwards and immediately slashed at him again, this time aware that the boy had more skill with a weapon than he had first believed and Matthias was barely able to escape what would have been a deadly blow had it hit its target.

With Matthias clearly on the defense, the soldier aimed out a series of more slashes that forced him backwards, so far that he could feel heat in his back from the fires that had grown in size and started eating at the walls of the house as well.

The young man was left with little room for maneuver as he was forced to hold the axe close to his chest, blocking the incoming strikes. It was a bit of a desperate move from his side, but he flipped up the butt end of the axe and with pure luck it managed to catch the soldier in the groin. His enemy was taken by surprise and cringed in the pain as he staggered backwards. Matthias didn't waste this one shot and lashed out while his opponent was still without defenses.

It hit the soldier in the side and broke through the chainmail. He screamed out in pain and stumbled to the ground, clutching his side. The blood seeped out between his fingers and ran down the uniform. A spray hit Matthias in the face; he could feel the warm droplets as they landed on his skin and could smell the slightly iron like scent it carried that made him want to hurl all over again.

* * *

Matthias stared at the man as he died before his eyes and then he was torn out of his line of thought by the sound of a raging cry. There were two soldiers storming towards him with blades lifted. They were visible from the fires that were engulfing the entire tavern in an orange blaze behind them.

Matthias's heart was beating like mad as he saw the soldiers coming towards him. There was may more of them than he had initially though, a much larger than the one they had dispatched the previous day and they were swarming the village, spreading out in all directions to make a sweep of the area.

He turned on his heel and ran for his life. The soldier behind him screamed at him that he was a coward not for facing them, but he did his best to ignore it. There were people trying to escape on all sides of him and he wished he could save them all, but there were just too many soldiers. He could hear the screaming as they were being cut down, and see the flickering of orange as more houses were being put to the torch. The soldiers obviously had no intensions of leaving anyone alive in the village.

Swishing through the narrow streets in between the houses in the densest part of the village he made he made his way to the other side of town, where the houses became fewer until they stretched out in a large area of fields. In the far distance there was a much smaller forest that was one part of the road to the village of Dalahurst where they had agreed to meet in should they get away.

There were a group of about 30 people running over the field, closely followed by the king's men. Matthias caught up with two soldiers that had just grabbed a hold of a young girl and was about to cut her throat open right before his eyes. With a roar he rushed forward and lashed out a long sweep with the axe. One of the soldiers went down immediately in a puddle of blood and guts from the powerful impact.

Just as Matthias was about to make another swing, the second soldier rushed up to him and grasped on to the axe handle as well, stopping him. Matthias attempted to pull the blade back, but the soldier held on too tight.

In a panicked glance around, he noticed that the rest of the king's men were making their way out in the fields to follow the escaping villagers. The majority of the town was lit up by flames behind them, but there were still faint screams from people being cut down in because they had not managed to get away in time.

Matthias attempted to yank back the axe again, but the other man still wouldn't let go. "You have no idea what you have began" the soldier yelled over the noise. "You have no chance of defeating the king. This rebellion is foolish and we will put a stop to it."

The soldier forced him further back and Matthias knew he had to get away now or the rest of the fighters to surround them. He kicked at the soldier who finally lost the grip and he ran.

The soldier started laughing behind him but didn't pursue. "You can run boy…" he yelled mockingly "but you can't hide. We will find all of you soon enough. You don't have any training in war and you don't have the numbers to challenge us. I have seen your face and soon the rest of the kingdom will too, on a spike in the citadel square."

Matthias kept on running. To the sounds of thundering feet of soldiers behind him, he kept going.

Their noises were muffled when he entered the forest and ran through the branches. He was breathing hard and panicked, struggling to get enough oxygen down in his lungs. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was but he could not stop running yet. Not until he was further away.


	4. Unexpected Ally

**Unexpected ally**

Matthias ran like a madman through the forest in order to lose any possible pursuers in the bushes. The cold night air made his breath dance around like a white cloud as he ran, making the surroundings seem even more eerie than they would have done otherwise. But there was no chance of the whole ordeal being a dream, for the cold was biting cold and all too real. Every cut from the branches stung as they left reddened skin behind on his arms as he brushed past the trees in his desperate escape.

He had no idea of where the rest of the villagers were by now, or how many of them had survived and gotten away, if any of them had done so at all. For if there was anybody out there in the forest, he could not hear or see them. Almost all the sounds except for the one he was making himself were absorbed and muffled by the surroundings and drowned by the natural noises of the forest.

Every extra loud rustle of leaves were enough to make him spin around in panic, axe lifted ready for defense, thinking that the sound meant a soldier was about to come rushing at him with deadly intent. But every single time it turned out to be the wind and his mind playing a trick on him and there was never anyone real out there.

But there were moments when he could almost swear that he had seen the flicker of a cloak from someone running past him in a hurry. It happened several times and in frustration he even tried to yell at the silhouette, despite the danger of being discovered by enemies, demanding that whoever it was would stop. But he never received any replies and he realized that what or who he saw was not really there.

He was soon cold and exhausted from running and allowed himself to let his imagination take over more control of his thoughts and made his visions become stronger. The silhouette became clearer than it had before. His face started gaining some distinctive features under the heavy woolen cloak he hid under.

Matthias found it strange how comforting he thought it was to see the shadow take on the appearance of the same stranger from the village and from his dream. Both times it was prior to some bad event, but he felt so lost in those dull blue eyes that stared at him and wordlessly dared him to follow as he lead the way.

And follow Matthias did. It was like he was hypnotized and without a mind of his own, desperate to catch another glimpse of his face. The road below his feet seized to matter, and he stumbled over several roots and rocks spread out on the ground, but he never stopped find an easier road to walk.

Every time the stranger's figure turned around and started heading away further in to the forest he found himself trudging in the same direction. He had no idea of which direction the village of Dalahurst lay in and listening to what the stranger had said had saved his life once already. So he figured it couldn't hurt too much to trust him again, even if he was just a figment of his imagination.

But even so, Matthias was afraid. He was ashamed to have to admit that to himself, but he had lost all sense of direction as soon as he left the village. He had no idea if he was heading the right way or not and every step he were led further out in the wilderness. For all he knew he could be heading right back to the village that was burning and being destroyed without even realizing before it was too late. And the thought of being so utterly lost was terrifying.

* * *

His mind was instantly brought back to reality when there was the sharp snap from a twig breaking and the rustling of leaves somewhere in the darkness. This time Matthias was sure that it was not just his imagination going berserk again and he held up the still bloodied axe, his fingers were gripping so hard around the handle that his knuckles turned white and his heart was hammering away in his chest in panic.

But there was no soldier to approach him, for out between the braches stepped Berwald. He used one hand to push aside the twigs and leaves that were in his way and the other was dragging along the decorated sword loosely along the ground, leaving a long groove in the soft dirt.

It took the smith's apprentice a few moments before he noticed Matthias on the path before him, he didn't seem to recognize the other male at first and his eyes widened in shock. Judging from the dark stains on the blade in his hand, Matthias made the assumption that Berwald had had a run in with the soldier at some point. He had splotches of blood on his face and clothing as well, but he was without any injuries of his own.

"Berwald?" Matthias almost dropped the axe right there, just in pure disbelief at meeting his friend all of a sudden when he had thought he was completely lost and alone. "Is that really you?"

The smith's apprentice looked disoriented as he kept staring at Matthias with glassy eyes that didn't seem capable of focusing on anything in particular. "Yes" he finally muttered after a long while and with shaky fingers he tied the sword to his belt.

Matthias breathed a sigh of relief from hearing Berwald speak, proving that he was not completely taken over by a state of shock. "I didn't expect to find any of our own people out there. I have no idea where we are."

Berwald took another look at their surroundings and then pointed towards a slightly different direction than the one Matthias had been headed in already. "I have never been to Dalahurst myself" he muttered. "I only know that it lies somewhere to the north."

"But how do you know that is north?" Matthias asked and stared out in the darkness as if magical portal was about to open right before their feet. "We didn't exactly follow the path when we left Griven behind."

"I don't know for sure" Berwald admitted, "I just overheard some hunters in the shop a couple of weeks ago. One of them said that a sure way to know which way is north is by looking at the trees. They said that moss is more likely to grow on the south sides of trees because they get more sun and therefore north should be on the side where the least moss grows and that would be somewhere in that direction."

Mathias's mouth fell open in disbelief. "You got lost in the woods and decided to navigate it by following moss because you heard some hunters say that was a valid way to tell the direction?"

"If you have a better idea I'd love to hear it" Berwald muttered tiredly. He seemed too exhausted to take any offence by the insult in Matthias' question. "If we just continue to walk in one direction and don't steer off somewhere then we will get out of the forest sooner or later and then we should be able to find the way to Dalahurst after that."

That instantly shut Matthias up and he regretted his earlier words. When Berwald started to trudge of in the direction he had pointed out, he jogged so he could catch up with the other and silently followed in his path, determined not to make a bigger gap between the two of them by saying something stupid without thinking.

* * *

They alternated between walking and jogged on for several hours without stopping for long at the time. Above them the darkness turned greyer and gave in when the sun came over the horizon and dyed the sky in a bright mix of orange and red before it finally made its way between the branches and all the way to the ground lighting up their way. The birds started waking to life and start their morning song when the two of them finally tired from running.

They were both panting for air and sweat was staining their shirts when they halted by the bank of a great river. "You don't think the soldiers followed after us, do you?" Matthias gasped for air and just to collapse on a patch of soft soil where he spread out to catch his breath again and dumped the axe beside him.

Berwald didn't answer at first; he was too busy gulping down water from the river. "I doubt they would have been able to track us this far" he finally said drying off a few droplets of water escaping down his chin. And besides, it would have been foolish for them to split up and chase us and all of the villagers down separately."

He then glanced down and caught a glimpse of the state of his own clothing and froze. His hands were shaking as he put his arms down in the water all the way up to his elbows and started scrubbing franticly at the fabric until some of the blood started to wash away and swirled down with the current to disappear He brought the sleeve up to his face and started scrubbing away at his skin. The sleeve came down and it was stained red with blood as well and he had to wash that out to.

"If you're right" Matthias said thoughtfully. "Then they must be gathering their forces again somewhere, trying to figure out where we are headed and plan another assault." He then forced himself slightly up from the ground on his hands and knees before crawled over to the river, just upstream of Berwald and drank greedily from the fresh water that had not been tainted by blood.

"I'd say that's a fair assumption" Berwald replied and sank exhausted down on the riverbank sand, his sleeves dripping water down on the ground.

"Then we should get a move on" Matthias said sharply and suddenly full of determination again. "We have to get out of this forest and find the way to Dalahurst as fast as possible. The longer our people stay in that village, the more dangerous it will be for both our people and theirs."

He had been leaning over the streaming water, but now he forced himself to stand up from the comfortable position on the ground and offered Berwald a hand to help him get up as well. "You have the best sense of direction… So which way do we continue in now?" he asked in what he hoped was a cheerful tone, even if he knew it was most likely sounding false and strained.

"I suppose we should continue in the same direction as before" Berwald replied as he accepted the hand offered to him. "If we change direction, we might just end up walking in circles for ages and walk the wrong way." He headed over to a tree a few steps away from the river and ran a hand over the heavy trunk, hoping that he would be able to distinguish which direction was north by the amount of moss growing on it and hope that the hunters had not been telling some false story to impress his friends.

Their rest were cut short when they heard a soft swish from something light making its way through the air at a great speed and then followed by a loud thwack as an arrow imbedded itself in the tree, only centimeters away from Berwald's face and his eyes widened in surprise and his mouth fell open.

"Don't move!"

The voice was commanding and came from somewhere in the forest and out of their line of sight. "That was just a warning shot. The next one goes through your head."

Both of them stood absolutely still, not daring to move a single muscle in fear of the hidden assailant. Berwald kept his eyes fixed on the tree before him, but just in the side of his field of vision he could notice the slim arrow, still swaying back and forth from the impact with the tree. It was a clear reminder of the shooter's skill.

Matthias was carefully trying to turn his head towards the voice in the forest, thinking that he could locate the person and figure out a way for them to overwhelm him. Had it been one of the king's soldiers out there, then they would probably have been dead already and not being threatened, but they were still trapped in the open by the riverbank. The trees were too far away to make a run for shelter.

"I said don't move!" The voice shrieked and Matthias froze dead in his tracks. The voice still held its demanding tone, but it also sounded panicked and just a bit soft, not yet a man's voice. That made it even clearer that it was not a soldier hiding in the bushes, for all of the king's soldiers was way out of adolescence by the time their training was over. "Put your hands up and move over to that guy by the tree."

Matthias did as he was told and lifted his hands above his head before he move with slow steps over to where Berwald was standing and whispered under his breath so only the two of them could hear. "It sounds like there is only one guy out there and he is probably younger than us by the sound of him. We can probably take him down if we want to."

"Don't do anything stupid now" Berwald growled quietly back at him.

But Matthias was too tired and exhausted to pay any mind to his warning. Instead he confidently turned around to face the forest. "Come out!" He demanded. "Come out and face us like a man instead of hiding in the shadows like some coward."

He immediately regretted his action. Another arrow whistled by. It was so close that Matthias could feel the steering feathers caress his cheek as it went by and he flinched involuntarily and was unable to hold back a yelp in surprise.

"No more chances!" the voice yelled at them. "Just stand perfectly still and answer my questions and I might just let you go. First I want to know who you are, where you're from and which direction you were heading in."

"I'm Berwald" The smith's apprentice called back without hesitation, not willing to risk their lives by protesting against a hidden shooter. "The other guy is Matthias. We come from the village of Griven and got lost in the forest on our way for Dalahurst."

"And what is your business there?" The voice asked skeptically. "Dalahurst is a peaceful town, why would you need to carry weapons with you to a place like that?"

"Our village was attacked" Matthias instantly regained his voice and angrily yelled back. "The king's men attacked us and we are trying to get away from them with our lives intact. They killed our people, burned our homes and are now chasing down the rest of us to stop us from spreading the news to the rest of the kingdom. They are probably going to do the same to other towns on the outskirts of the kingdom in order to fund his next war."

"How can I know that you're telling the truth?" the voice asked nervously. "For all I know this could all be some story you are just making up to trick me into letting you go."

Berwald sighed heavily and with a swift movement he flung the sword in his belt to the ground before the shooter had time to make a shot and making himself seem like a lesser threat now that he was unarmed. "There is nothing we can do to convince you, you just have to trust our word. We have been running all night and we're exhausted. We have nothing left but what we carry with us."

They then heard a soft rustling from the forest and Berwald followed in Matthias' example and turned around as well, careful not to make any hasty movements when doing so. The first thing that came into view through the leaves was the sharp point of an arrow aimed straight at them, then came a bow and at last the person wielding the weapon.

It was a young male, shorter than both Berwald and Matthias, probably younger than them as well and with a soft, rounded face, framed by shaggy, blonde hair. The alert eyes he had trained at them were shining in a color of violet as he was searching for any signs of unexpected movements from the two of them. On his back he carried a small backpack and a quiver full of arrows. By his waist in its sheath rested a hunting knife.

The young man eyed them for a moment before he unexpectedly lowered the bow and aimed the arrow towards the ground instead. "I believe you he said uncertainly. "You don't look like bad people, but you don't look like hunters either." He then stared at the axe and sword lying in the sand. "I had not expected to meet anybody else out here and I didn't know if you could be trusted or not."

His first words had been commanding and sharp, but now that he was out in the open, his words were released with the speed of a rushing river and his gaze flickered nervously between the two of them. He seemed to still question his own decision of trusting them.

Matthias gave Berwald a sideways glance with an expression that clearly asked the question of: 'is this guy for real?' But the smith's apprentice didn't answer and merely stared at the nervous male fidgeting before them.

"I'm really sorry I shot at you" the purple eyed male stuttered at them when neither of the two said a single word."If you want, I can show you the quickest way to Dalahurst."

Matthias had no idea how to read the strange young man and was trying to figure out something to say. Berwald kept staring and it looked like he was completely without words and his mouth hung open.

Matthias cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. "So…" he began trying to ease some of the tension. "If you are going to be our guide all of a sudden, then I suppose we better get to know your name."

The young male seemed genuinely surprised by the request but then startled as if he realized. "Ah, yes" he laughed nervously and offered Matthias a hand to shake. "My name is Tino." He then smiled brightly at both of them, but the smile faltered when he faced the stone-faced smith's apprentice and more hesitantly offered him a hand as well.

"We should probable get moving" Matthias suggested and went to pick up his axe from the ground and gently brushed of a few grains of sand. Both Berwald and Tino the hunter snapped their heads at him and breaking of their awkward staring.

"Ah, yes off course" Tino said cheerfully, apparently he could not fully grasp what the two of them had escaped from only a couple of hours past. He picked up the sword Berwald had tossed to the ground and handed it over to the much taller male, hesitating a bit when he noticed the darkened stains on the blade and staring wide eyed at the smith's apprentice when he handed it over.

. "It's going to take us a couple of hours to walk there" he muttered shyly. "But I have practically grown up in these woods, I know a few shortcuts." When neither of the two answered him this time either, Tino pressed his lips together shamefully to hold back his constant flood of words

* * *

They kept walking under the strong rays of the sun for several more hours. Tino moved easily through the bushes without making a single misstep, when the other two struggled to keep up with him as they grew more and more exhausted by the minute. He only managed to stay silent for a short while before he started telling them stories about the village and people he knew in order to pass the time.

"It just a few moments now and we will be able to see it" he said brightly when the forest became less around them and was replaced by more grass and flowers in place of trees. He pushed aside a few more leaves and stepped out in the open.

Matthias was eager to get out as well and rushed up to join him. But as soon as he did, he realized that the hunters smile had disappeared completely and he was staring wide eyed at something in the distant.

Berwald stepped up beside them as well and used one hand to shade his eyes from the sun and squinted in the same direction, but without seeing something distinctive besides the contours of a town somewhere in the distance. "What is it?" he asked.

"There is something going on in the village" Tino whispered. "There is a crowd of people there."


	5. Stranger

**Stranger**

"What kind of crowd is it?" Matthias asked and instinctively he reached an arm backwards to grab a hold of the axe he had strapped to his back. "Is it soldiers?"

Tino mirrored Berwald's earlier move and shielded his eyes from the sun. "It doesn't look like they are soldiers" he muttered thoughtfully. "As far as I can see, none of them of them are wearing any armor, but that's about all I can tell from this distance. Come on, let's go check it out." Then without waiting for the others, he started to move with quick steps towards the village.

Berwald and Matthias cast each other a questioning look before they followed cautiously behind the young hunter, both of them were ready to draw their weapons at a moment's notice. Soon enough they could see the group of people clustered just outside the first row of houses, just like Tino had said there was.

When they drew even closer they just barely catch it when one of the people gathered outside the village was waiving them over. Tino lit up in a bright smile as he turned towards the other two and enthusiastically signaled for them to hurry up. "That's the chieftain waiving at us. So it looks like there is nothing to worry about, come on. Let's go see what is going on."

His smile didn't last for very long however and was replaced with a look of pure horror. For the closer they got to the group assembled, the more serious he realized the situation was.

The people of the edge of the city had obviously been through hell in order to get there. Some of them were badly injured and poorly dressed. Almost half of them had apparently been unable to put shoes on before they started running and many of them had feet that were bleeding from the abuse their journey had provided. Matthias and Berwald recognized them as people from their own town.

"What happened?" Tino yelled and his voice almost gave out.

"We told you" Berwald replied quietly. "Our village was attacked and we were planning to run here for safety. That's people from our village."

Tino whirled around to face the two of them; his eyes were wide as dinner plates and his mouth hung open in shock. "But I never believed things was this bad for you" he was struggling to make the words come out right and they sounded chocked.

The villagers noticed their arrival and recognized the two boys from Griven and yelled out their names. Almost immediately after, both Berwald and Matthias were completely surrounded by people slapping them on the back and hugging them.

Torleif then elbowed his way through the crowd. The burly man looked at the verge of tears when he saw the, and embraced each of them in a great bear hug. "Thank the goods" he roared. "I was beginning to think that we had lost the two of you."

Matthias broke free of the embrace. "How many others survived?" he asked.

Torleif looked saddened by the questions. "As far as we know, the only ones that got away from Griven are those that you see here. Most of us found each other in forest and fled here together. We arrived just a few hours ago. There have been a few stragglers to arrive later, but not too many. I wish there were more of us."

"Why are you just waiting here outside the village?" Tino suddenly asked. He had been keeping his distance and watching the reunion but now made his way up to Berwald and Matthias.

Torleif turned towards the young hunter. "Who are you?" he asked sharply.

"That's Tino" Berwald answered as the young hunter looked frozen at the harsh tone Torleif had used, probably worried that he had done something wrong by talking. "He helped us find the way when we got lost out in the forest. We wouldn't have made it here without him."

Torleif's face softened a bit and he offered the young man a small smile. "The chieftain is working on finding all of us some beds and some food and told us to wait here for the time being until he had made all the preparations. I have told him what happened to us and he promised to do what he can to help us."

"Really?" Matthias was genuinely surprised to hear that. "He wants to help us defeat the king. Is he really willing to risk the life and safety of his villagers by helping us?"

"You should meet him." Torleif said eagerly and put one hand on each of Berwald and Matthias' shoulders to lead them out of the crowd. "They have had problems with the king's soldiers as well. Nobody has lost their lives as of yet, but the king's men were here just last week demanding payment. They took large quantities of gold and food and now the village might not have enough supplies to make it through the winter. They want to fight and regain what is rightfully theirs."

The chieftain of Dalahurst had been waiting patiently for the new arrivals to greet their own and make their way over to him. He looked from Torleif and gave Matthias and Berwald a curt nod in greeting and offered them a hand to shake. Then his gaze turned to Tino he smiled softly in recognition. "Welcome back Tino, glad to see you have returned safely."

Tino smiled weakly back at him. "I'm glad to be home. But I wish the circumstances were better."

The chieftain turned back to Matthias and Berwald. "So I have heard a lot about you boys. Torleif has spoken very highly of you after your efforts back in Griven during the uprising. That is very impressive for someone without proper weapons training to slay some of the king's highly trained soldiers like that."

"So you really want to help us defeat the king?" Matthias asked.

"Yes" the chieftains replied. "But you have to realize that we need more people in order to win over him. His army is far greater than what numbers our two villages can gather up and you have lost several people already."

The newcomers all nodded, acknowledging the fact and Matthias cleared his throat to speak. "We had every intention of recruiting as many other villages to our cause as we could, but we were attacked before we could do anything. They came on the same night when we defied them."

The chieftain nodded as well. "Torleif has already informed me of the tragedy in Griven when he arrived with the rest of your group. Be assured, we have taken our precautions and set out armed guards on the edges of the village. If the soldiers try anything they will not be able to take us by surprise."

"That's good right?" Tino asked a bit more cheerily. "That should mean we're safe for now."

"Yes, for now" Matthias said thoughtfully. "But there won't be much we can do excepts run if the king's soldiers are capable of preparing another assault as quickly as they did in Griven."

"I still don't understand how they were capable of launch the attack only hours after the uprising in the first place" Berwald muttered darkly.

"You haven't heard?" Tino exclaimed. "The king is a sorcerer!"

The chieftain immediately frowned at the young hunter. "That is just a foolish story, boy. It is meant to scare children and villagers to prevent them from ever daring to defy the king."

"I'd like to hear that story" Matthias said.

The chieftain sighed at their childish behavior that they showed in the grave situation they were all in. "Now is not the time for stories. But if you're determined to hear it then you should now there will be a campfire held later tonight as we keep guard throughout the night, Tino can tell it then. For now, why don't all of you get some rest? It has been a long night and day for all of you and we have prepared a few beds in the inn and gathered some extra blankets we can spread out on the floor. There are also a few villagers that have some extra space."

Torleif nodded in agreement and turned back to the rest of the villagers from Griven before he whistled loud and sharply to gain everybody's attention so he could relay the information from the chieftain. Almost all of them looked relieved at the thought of getting some long needed rest.

"Tino" the chieftain said. "Maybe you can bring your new friends with you to your house where they can get some rest. That is if your aunt doesn't mind the company."

Tino signaled for Matthias and Berwald to follow him. "This way, just follow me."

* * *

Dalahurst appeared to be just a little bit bigger than Griven had been. It was a town built for hunters, farmers and merchants, for the houses were mostly small and simple. Matthias looked at the building they passed while following the lead of the excitable hunter. It was nice to see a place that seemed so untouched by evil, even if they had been told that the village had lost most of their resources to soldiers the town was untouched by flame and blood.

He was letting his gaze roam from house to house, taking in the surroundings and then… there he was.

It was the stranger, casually leaning against the wall of a house and staring right at him with a challenging look on his face.

Matthias froze in his tracks and stared back, eyes wide in amazement. The stranger turned around to disappear around the house corner and out of view down an alley.

Tino and Berwald noticed how he was not following after them any longer and turned around to look at him in question. "Matthias?" Berwald lifted an eyebrow at him. "Are you coming?"

"Huh?" Matthias was still staring at the house corner where the stranger had disappeared only seconds ago and barely paid any mind to the question aimed at him. "I'll join up with you later" he muttered absentmindedly and stepped away from them, closer to the alley. "I want to explore the village a bit while it's still daylight."

Tino looked surprised. "Oh, well okay… I live with my aunt in that red house just down the road, so you can just go there when you're ready." He pointed out the direction and by his side Berwald silently furrowed his brows at Matthias in suspicion.

Matthias flashed them a smile and said a quick thanks as hurried away before the others could question him any further. He went directly towards the spot where he had seen the stranger disappear and rushed down what was a completely empty alley.

He followed the road and cursed under his breath when the passage split up and the path went off in two different directions. Figuring that if he wanted to catch the person he would have to run immediately and so he picked a way at random and followed the path as quickly as his feet would carry him.

The line of houses ended abruptly and he ran out into a large field of fruit trees. He almost screamed out in anger when he had zigzagged around several of the trees and far out in the field and realized it was all empty around him.

It was almost beginning to be a habit for him to question his own sanity after the rebellion in the square. He couldn't come up with a reasonable argument for why he would follow someone that was probably long gone by now. And he was beginning to think that maybe the stranger had never been real in the first place, not even back in the town square.

He then heard a light chuckle.

He spun around to locate the sound, but there was no one else out there. The field was empty all around him.

"Have you always thought it wise to follow strangers around when you have no idea of their agenda?"The voice was dark, calm and carried just a hint of playfulness to it. "Look up."

Matthias did as he was asked and his mouth fell open when he did so. Perched on one of the branches was the stranger he had began to doubt even existed. He was leaning back against the tree and calmly swaying one of his legs back and forth off the branch. In his hand he was holding an apple that had escaped being picked by the locals during the harvest.

"Have you any idea what you and your people have gotten involved in by rebelling against the king?" The stranger glanced down at Matthias for a moment and then turned his attention towards the apple in his hand and took a bite of it.

Matthias was at a loss of words and kept gawking at the stranger in the tree. The young man was even more handsome than he had first realized. His skin was pale and flawless and his hair shone in the evening sun. His clothes were simple, but still elegant and hung perfectly on his slim body. He looked far too noble to be a farmer, hunter or any kind of commoner. "You're real" Matthias finally managed to choke out.

"Well, I'd certainly like to think so" the stranger answered calmly and took another bite of the apple, unfazed by Matthias' behavior.

"But I've been seeing you in my dreams" Matthias protested. "I saw you back in Griven and out it the forest like some ghost. Why? Who are you?"

The stranger completely ignored the question and kept his attention on the already half eaten apple instead. "What you see in your dreams is not really my problem. But I was in that town square on the day you killed one of the king's commanders. And now I am here. I just wanted to tell you something that could be of importance. For if you and your people are really meaning to make anything of this rebellion you might find it interesting to know where the soldiers are planning to strike next."

"What?" Matthias was barely able to believe what he was hearing. "How can you possibly know where they will strike next?"

The stranger tossed away the apple core and sat up on the branch, both legs dangling on the side as he stared down at Matthias. "I can't tell you how I know what I do, but I can guarantee that the soldiers will be at the village of Dale in less than two weeks. And after the stunt you pulled of back in Griven, they are not planning to play nice with anyone anymore."

"They weren't playing nice before either" Matthias grumbled. His neck was starting to hurt from tilting his head back for so long, but he had no way to change that. He had been looking for a way to climb up the tree, but even the lowest branches were out of his reach without a ladder. How the stranger had gotten up there in the first place was a mystery to him. "How do I know you are telling the truth?"

The stranger just stared challenging at him. He seemed to know that there was no way for the other male to reach him and looked to be finding great entertainment in the fact. "There is no way for you to know" he replied simply. "I just wanted to give you a fair chance for a fight. The only way for you to beat the superior forces of the king, is if you manage to take them by surprise and you cannot do that without knowing the soldier's movements."

"Matthias threw out his arms in frustration. "You obviously possess a lot of knowledge, but if you won't tell me who you are and how you came to come by it, how can I trust you or a single word you're saying? Can't you come down please?" He was on the verge of begging, desperate to know more, both about the soldiers and about the mysterious male in the tree.

"I carry no love for the king" the stranger said darkly and his voice had grown sinister. The playful hint in his eyes were gone and turned cold and empty. "I just wanted to give you information. What you chose to do with it is not for me to decide." He stood up on the branch, perfectly in balance and seemed just a bit further away from Matthias' grasp.

"I'm sorry" Matthias blurted out and he almost threw himself at the tree trunk, grasping for lower branches. He was determined to find a way up before the stranger could climb further up. "I didn't mean to insult you. Please, I just want to know more."

"I have nothing more to tell you" the stranger snapped back.

"At least tell me your name" Matthias begged desperately and stared right into the stranger's eyes and clutched on to the tree.

The stranger tilted his head slightly to the side without breaking their eye contact. It looked like he was considering whether or not he should tell or not. Then he sighed. "My name is Lukas."

"Come down" Matthias pleaded. "It's not like you have anywhere to run to. You're trapped up there and cannot get anywhere to go unless you come down."

Lukas just stared at him, not moving a muscle and still didn't seem at all worried by Matthias' words. "Don't waste your time with me. You should go back to the village; your friends will miss you soon."

"Matthias?"

There was a call from the village. Matthias almost cursed for being interrupted and instinctively turned towards the sound of his name.

Just by the line of houses he could spot the hunter, Tino. He turned back towards the tree again, figuring that Tino could wait for a little longer. "I don't want to hurt you; I just want to talk…"

His words died out and he forgot what he had wanted to say. For when he looked up, the tree was empty. The stranger, Lukas was gone. The only thing in the tree was a small blue looking at him. Matthias rubbed furiously at his eyes and looked again. When he opened them again it was just in time to watch the bird flutter away.

Matthias had no idea of what to think. Had he imagined the entire meeting just like so many other things? He couldn't believe it and furiously looked around for any evidence that would prove he was not mad. And there, just a few meters away in the grass, lay the apple core. Lukas had thrown that, so Matthias was sure he had been here.

Matthias was about to circle around the tree to see if anyone could have hidden among the branches in the few moments he had looked away, but approaching steps stopped him.

"Are you okay?" Tino had approached him from the village and looked at Matthias in worry. "We were starting to wonder where you had gone. The campfire is already lit and we have some food ready if you'd like some. Then he noticed Matthias' lack of interest. "Uhm, what are you looking for?"

Matthias immediately turned his attention from the tree and towards the hunter. "I just thought I saw something" he said nonchalantly. "It turned out to be nothing. Why don't we go to this campfire, I want to hear that story now." He flashed Tino a grin.

Tino smiled in relief. "Let's go then, Berwald is waiting for us there."

With one last glance at the tree, Matthias turned to follow Tino back to the village. He was wondering if he would ever see Lukas again.


	6. Tales

**Tales**

"I wasn't gone that long" Matthias muttered in complaint as the young hunter lead way out of the fields and through the streets of Dalahurst. "Why did you come looking for me? I thought we would all meet up much later."

Tino looked a bit guilty and let out a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head uneasily. "Berwald was worried about you. Well, he didn't exactly say that directly, but he mentioned that you had seemed a bit distracted and he wasn't sure what was going on with you. He just makes me a bit nervous and I didn't know what to do, so I offered to go look for you." He didn't notice how Matthias ended up tuning out more and more of his speech as the young man didn't seem able to stop his flood of words.

Matthias wondered if he would have been able to convince Lukas to come down from the tree had he not been interrupted by anyone back in the field. It was a truly inconvenient that Tino arrived when he did, it gave the stranger what little time he had needed to get away. He might never have a chance to meet Lukas again.

But also, what Tino had said about the king being a sorcerer made him think that maybe that was how Lukas had gotten away in the first place. The bird in the three had looked strangely at him before it flew off, that should not be the normal behavior of birds. But the more he thought about it, the surer he was that Lukas was knew at least a little magic and had used some to escape.

He had suspected something like that already when a shadow of Lukas had led him through the forest. It was just a ridiculous coincidence that the stranger had to actually take contact for real, just minutes after Tino had blurted out that he believed the king was a sorcerer. It was hard not to think that there was any connection between the two.

Berwald had looked suspicious before Matthias ran off to chase after the stranger, but he had not expected him to send anyone out looking for him. The smith's apprentice was observant and definitely not stupid at all. Matthias realized he shouldn't have been surprised that Berwald had noticed he had been acting differently.

But that was not very important really. A bigger question was what to do with the information that Lukas had given him. If the man was telling the truth, then they would all have a real chance of getting a significant advantage over the king's army. But at the same time it was really suspicious that Lukas would just show up and be able to tell the exact plans of the soldiers without revealing how he had come to possess it.

For all he knew, it could all just be some really elaborate trap, made by one of the king's people to end the rebellion before it could truly start, by sending them all into a trap. But then why would Lukas have entered his mind to warn him against the soldiers in the first place? Because he was sure it was the stranger who had used some sort of magic to enter his mind, even if he had tried to deny that he had anything to do with it. Had Matthias not been warned on the night of the rebellion, then they would all surely have been slain by the soldiers already.

Tino kept talking as they found their way to the campfire. He never seemed to take notice of how Matthias had stopped paying attention a long time ago.

It would seem that only a small group of people from Griven had chosen to attend at the campfire, or maybe it was still too early in the evening. The other possibility was that they had chosen to take some long needed rest. The chieftain had after all promised that his people would stand guard throughout the night and keep them all safe so they could take the risk of sleeping.

There was a small stream of smoke rising from the fire and heat was radiating generously from it in all directions. A pig was roasting merrily on a spit over the embers and the smell made Matthias' mouth water. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was and then recalled the last time he had eaten was when they held their feast back in Griven. It seemed like an eternity had passed since then.

He figured he must have stared at the pig, since he heard a chuckle and turned to see a laughing Torleif. "I do believe you are drooling dear boy" the man said merrily and lifted a mug of ale to his lips.

Matthias cast a glance around and noticed that Berwald had already been supplied with a plate of meat. Tino had disappeared when Matthias had been distracted for a moment by Torleif. But now the hunter returned with a second plate and offered it to him with a soft smile grazing his lips. Matthias didn't waste a second before he hungrily devoured the meal without even bothering to sit down first.

* * *

Night came quickly and darkness along with it. A few more people came to join them, but the chieftain had revealed that most of the villagers had heard the stories many times before. So he would rather have them keep their focus on standing guard instead of telling what he personally believed to be childish stories.

They sat in silence for a long time, just listening to the crackle of the fire and enjoying the warmth before Tino decided to speak up. "So, do you never tell stories back in you village? I mean, since you have never heard any about the king."

Matthias was about to answer that they didn't usually do that, but to his surprise Torleif spoke up before he had time to do so. "We used to tell stories back in the day" he muttered. The man seemed to be lost in thought as he was trying to dig up old memories from past days.

"When I served the army during the last war, we used to tell stories all the time. None of them being as fancy as to tell the king is a sorcerer though. We just found it curious that there were many times when we won battles that we should not have been able to get out of with our lives intact, but somehow against all odds, most of us did."

"At first we didn't think too much of it. Why should we question the reason for being alive, when we were just happy to see another day? The king just had a brilliant mind for strategy, because he almost seemed to know where the enemy was positioned at all times and predict their movements long before they were even made. To us he was the greatest military mind we could ever imagine."

"But that's the thing!" Tino interrupted excitedly. "He does know things before they happen. And that's not all; we have even heard many stories of how enemy troops could just vanish into thin air. Just how is that possible if he is not a sorcerer?"

"Is that all?" Matthias interrupted. "Just because he's a good tactician, he's supposed to be a sorcerer. He doesn't turn into some great dragon or something cool?"

One of the villagers burst out in a wild laughter. "A dragon! Just what king of mushrooms did you eat when you were lost out in that forest? I think we would have found out if there was a dragon in existence at all."

The others chuckled at the comment, but Matthias brushed it off with a smile, he did have a plan behind his question. He wanted to know more about what a supposed sorcerer would do. "Dragons do make for better stories if you ask me. I just wondered if he is some mighty magician, then why hasn't he unleashed some magical storm to get rid of us all already."

"I told you it was just a stupid children's story" the chieftain snapped. "All of these tales are just made up because the king is so damned secretive all the time. In all these years he have had no political connections with any of our neighboring kingdoms as far as we know, he has not gotten married and there is no heir to speak of. He is supposed to have had many suitors, but he never accepted any of the offers. He doesn't even show himself in public. I mean we're his people and I bet none of us have ever seen the man."

Torleif coughed and put down the mug of ale he had been drinking deeply from. "Actually I saw him once." Everybody present turned to look at him in wonder and disbelief. "It was just after the final battle of the war 15 years ago. Both villagers and soldiers were gathered in the citadel square when he held a speech to celebrate our victory and tell us that we would enter an era of peace. I remember the day well. I was so relieved for the fighting to be over, the sun was shining brightly and there was not a single cloud in sight as we stood in that square. And I overheard some young girls right next to me were admiring the king from afar."

Some of the villagers laughed at him. "Of all the things to remember, that is the thing you decided to focus on, sunny clouds and the chatter from young girls?"

Torleif smiled and cleared his throat again. He put one hand over where his heart would be and used the other to fan his face. "Oh, my." Torleif spoke in a high pitch voice, pretending to take up the persona of a woman, something that did not look good on the strong build, bearded man. "I mean, look at him. He looks so mighty in that royal cloak. And the green in his tunic perfectly matches his eyes. I swear, in this light they are sparkling just like emeralds."

The villagers roared with laughter at Torleif's no less than ridiculous impersonation and the man grabbed his mug of ale again and lifted it once into the air before leading it back to his lips, happy with his achievement.

Torleif's story had seemed to stop the other's desire to tell any more tales rumors and the villagers mostly started whispering to each other instead. The chieftain had been none too happy about the spreading of rumors in the first place and nobody wanted to anger the man.

For Matthias there was more than one reason to smile after Torleif's impersonation. Because if their leader had seen the king in the capitol 15 years ago and the man had no spouse or heir, and another piece of information was that the king had green eyes. Not that it was likely that Lukas had been the king in the first place. He was much too young for that.

Matthias cursed at his own line of thoughts. He felt a bit stupid for having thought that Lukas could have been the king in the first place, but his mind had been making up a whole lot of crazy things lately, so he should not have been too surprised with himself. And Lukas had to be close to the king or the soldiers in some way, for how else could he have come by the information he had?

But still, what Torleif had said made him think that he could take the risk of trusting the information that Lukas had given him. So he decided to take the word. "So what is the plan for our next move?" he asked in a tone he hoped seemed casual.

"I suppose we should gather up every capable of fighting and then move on as quickly as possible" the chieftain answered. "We all know it's just a matter of time before the king's soldiers will find their way here in their search for anyone from Griven and any others that have joined on your rebellion, which now includes our village."

"I know that" Matthias replied swiftly. "What I mean is where should we head first?"

"Why are you suddenly so obsessed with making plans already?" Berwald muttered suspiciously. "Can't it wait until morning? We don't know anything about where the soldiers are heading next; we can just choose any direction at random."

"I just remembered something I overheard in the forest when I was escaping from the village" Matthias lied smoothly. He put up a fake mask of guilt, pretending that he felt bad for not having recalled any of the information any sooner. The others looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

Matthias drew a deep breath. "I can't be sure. My main priority was getting away, but I'm pretty confident I heard them mention something about heading to the east very soon when they were done with Griven."

"The village of Dale lies to the east!" TIno exclaimed urgently. "We should head there immediately. They need to be warned!"

"It's the best lead we have" Torleif said thoughtfully.

"Then we should not waste too much time." The chieftain stood up before them. "We should head out already tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Matthias asked. He was surprised that the chieftain had been so willing to listen to him without any further questions. The chieftain offered him a hand and pulled him up to his feet.

Torleif got up as well. "As Berwald said, which direction we head in first should not matter. If what you said is correct then it's the best clue we have. We have to move quickly if we are to stop the soldiers from hurting any more people." The veteran put a hand on Matthias' shoulder.

"But we should send out a team to scout ahead" Berwald had walked up to them. "The village should have horses, e few people can ride to Dale and gather information, like if the soldiers have been there already or are far away. Then they can ride back and inform the main group in time for them to make a plan of action."

"That's a great idea" Torleif said.

"I volunteer" Matthias immediately answered. "I was the one that suggested we should head east, I want to make sure I'm not putting any others at risk on my information."

"I want to go with him" Berwald added before Torleif or the chieftain had time to speak up. He still seemed to be a bit suspicious and Matthias did not blame him.

"Can I come too?" Tino piped up. "I am much better at moving quietly than both of them and I know the landscape. I have traveled between the two villages many times, I know a couple of roads the soldiers are likely to avoid and we can get there much faster."

"Well it seems we have a team then" Torleif said mildly surprised to have three volunteers so quickly and without having to ask. "That's great. If the village has horses to spare, then we should send you out at first light."

* * *

When first light had come over the horizon the three appointed spies were shook awake from their rest and led out in the village square by Torleif. The chieftain had people preparing each of them a pack of supplies that would last them for the few days it would take them to make the journey, food, blankets and material to make a fire.

It had all been packed on one horse for each of them. And then they had been sent off, barely without any exchange of words. The Griven leader and the Dalahurst chieftain had only bid them goodbye and good luck and watched them ride out of the village.

Now they were making their way along a small road with Tino leading the way for them. Matthias was riding between the two others, Tino in the front and Berwald right behind. He could practically feel the smith's suspicious glare boring into his back, trying to see through his agenda.

Matthias could only pray that he was making the right choice by following Lukas's advice and leading them all to Dale. He got more and more nervous as the days passed by in slow motion and the town got closer. It would not be too long before they would find out if it had been a good idea or not. Either they would be able to defend the village from an impending attack or they would meet a city that was unaffected and probably leave some other village somewhere else to be slaughtered far beyond their reach.

Time would tell. He could just hope for the best when Tino signaled for them to make a halt.


End file.
